Friday Night Lights -- Season 4 Premiere -- "East of Dillon" -- 10/28/09 (Directv)

[DJariya]

Synopsis:

Spoiler:

In the fourth-season premiere, Eric assembles his new team, the East Dillon Lions. Meanwhile, Tami tries to adapt to the new atmosphere in West Dillon; Matt deals with the realities of life as a townie; and Riggins struggles with college.

Thank God I have Directv!!

NBC viewers will not able to watch FNL until Summer 2010....maybe late Spring 2010 at the earliest.

[DJariya]

Zack Gilford (Matt) will return for 7 episodes

Minka Kelly (Lyla) will return for 2 episodes

[DJariya]

This is a great read about the new season. I encourage you who are fans to make the time to read this. Peter Berg is directing episode 1 and apparently is going to be alot more involved wth the show creatively over the next 2 seasons, especially with Jason Katims double dipping as showrunner on Parenthood. Also, it appears that they aren't that far ahead shooting. At the time this article was written, they were shooting episode 7.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/show...ting-over.html

When the third season of “Friday Night Lights” wrapped in late 2008, star Kyle Chandler was under the belief that he’d be hanging up his coaching cleats for good.

The series, which touches on the political, social and familial impacts of a football-obsessed but beleaguered town, carries with it a small but dedicated audience. Last year, it also became somewhat of a network experiment.

Now a partnership between DirecTV and NBC, “Friday Night Lights” had been trimmed last season from a full 22-episode run to one that capped at 13-episodes. Chandler was convinced that number would soon become zero.

“It was fatigue,” Chandler says, explaining the reason for the negativity. “The first year we were up against ‘American Idol.’ The second year was the writers strike. The third year we get cut down to 13 episodes. I just assumed that while we had a solid base, the numbers wouldn’t go out the roof. … I just didn’t expect that we would overcome a network’s desire for something fresh.”

With “Friday Night Lights” set to begin its fourth season Wednesday night on DirecTV’s 101 Network, Chandler is experiencing something he’s never had on the show before: stability. NBC and DirecTV renewed their partnership for a two-season run of 13-episodes apiece, bringing to an end -- at least for now -- the annual stress over a last-minute renewal.

Yet a sense of uncertainty surrounds practically everything else in the world of “Friday Night Lights.” Set in the fictional Texas town of Dillon, Season 4 serves as a major restructuring of the series.


A plot line involving a town redistricting has provided an opportunity to introduce a host of new characters, as well as disrupt the heart of the show. Chandler’s Eric Taylor, fired as the coach of the Dillon Panthers, is now heading the East Dillon Lions, a team representing a school made up of kids from the wrong (read: poorer, more ethnically diverse) side of town. His wife, Connie Britton’s Tami, remains principal of Dillon High, and its glorious, well-funded football program.

“It’s a little bit of a Horatio Alger story. He’s going from rags to riches, at least he hopefully is,” Chandler says.

Chandler says he called the writers and personally thanked them after reading Season 3’s finale. “If it were to come back, there was a whole new show,” he says. “If the show didn’t come back, they ended it really nicely. I don’t want to say it’s more fun to play, but it’s more fun playing this guy now than still playing the other guy.”

Executive producer Peter Berg, who directed Season 4’s first episode, as well as the 2004 film that was inspired by Buzz Bissinger book, plans to have a bigger input the next two seasons. No longer a "cheerleader" on the sidelines, he says, Berg is eager to see "Friday Night Lights" explore such timely issues as job security.

“On a macro level, what’s great about the new direction of the show is we’ve completely pulled the rug out from underneath this family,” Berg said. “They’re displaced and they’re on entirely unfamiliar turf. They’re going to have to rebuild and reinvent themselves. We’ve sort of destroyed everything that was familiar to this family. That’s very true to the culture. Three or four years is considered a long run as a head coach. It’s not uncommon for these coaches to have to pick up and relocate their families.”

Show-runner Jason Katims, meanwhile, has his hands full developing “Parenthood” for NBC (look for Stephanie Hunt, who plays indie-rock bass player Devin on “Friday Night Lights,” to appear on that series as well). Yet fans may remember that the last time Katims juggled two shows – in 2007 with “Bionic Woman” – “Friday Night Lights” suffered, getting off its realistic course with a murderous subplot.

Berg, however, says he has stepped up his involvement. He speaks of wanting to help define the course of the show over the next two seasons, and had a hand in casting the new characters. Among the newcomers in the first episode are Madison Burge, whose Becky Sproles is said to get close with Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), and Russell DeGrazier’s assistant coach Stan, who Chandler’s character meets in a dead-end job at Sears. DeGrazier is relegated to little more than comic relief in the first episode, but Berg teases that there’s “a big surprise with Stan later in the season.”

Like last season, some favorites will be leaving.

Chandler spoke to Show Tracker in the midst of filming Season 4’s seventh episode, and relayed that he had just finished shooting his final scene with Zach Gilford’s Matt Saracen. Gilford’s character had turned down enrollment at the Art Institute of Chicago to stay in Dillon and care for his ailing grandmother, as well as continue to date the coach’s daughter, Aimee Teegarden’s Julie.

Fans shouldn’t get too attached to the relationship between Matt and Julie. Says Berg: “Young love doesn’t always last, right? It feels great in the moment, but you have two very young people here. … I always say to all the young actors when they sign up for the show that they should look at this as a temporary gig. You don’t want to be playing a high school football player for 12 years.”

Of course, a decade-plus probably run isn’t in the cards for “Friday Night Lights,” but few expected the series, one that typically averaged somewhere between 4 million and 6 million viewers on NBC, to make it to five seasons.

“The DirecTV deal was a quite success for us,” Berg says. “It speaks to the potential for any show like ‘Friday Night Lights,’ which has a strong fan base but is struggling to put up big numbers. That’s about 99% of the dramas right now.”

[DJariya]

Adrianne Palicki (Tyra) will return for 1 episode.

[DJariya]

This is a 2 minute featurette that previews the new season. It was originally broadcasted on Directv. There is new interviews w/ the cast.

[Chew]

Sweet

[Superman07]

After reading that article I want to watch this on DTV (although no HD ).

[Michael Corvin]

<--- another NBC viewer.

Originally Posted by DJariya

Adrianne Palicki (Tyra) will return for 1 episode.

Wow, that's it?

Out of the entire cast of three seasons, it's going to be rough seeing Saracin leave. They've all had their moments, but he has grown as a character like no one else on the show.

[aktick]

So what original students are even left as regulars? Julie, Riggins, and...?

[uteotw]

No Tyra, no Lyla--bummer. Still, it's a great time to have DirecTV...

[GizmoDVD]

I'll watch this tomorrow...

[rfduncan]

As with last season, I will watch on the 101 and then re-watch it in HD on NBC when it re-airs.

I can't wait!!!

[JuryDuty]

Originally Posted by aktick

So what original students are even left as regulars? Julie, Riggins, and...?

I actually like this. Too many shows in this vein try to keep all the principal actors around, giving them ALL reasons to stay in the area. I'll miss the characters, but this is more realistic--and as long as Coach and Mrs. Coach is around, it'll be gold.

[Michael Corvin]

Originally Posted by aktick

So what original students are even left as regulars? Julie, Riggins, and...?

Seventh year Senior and counting!

[zekeburger1979]

What's the point of providing a link to the story if you're going to quote it in it's entirety anyways?

I love the comment of "three or four years is a long run for a head coach." The football coach at my high school is currently in his 22nd season. Of course, winning 6 state championships and only having 3 losing seasons in the last 21 years helps.

I'm tempted to find "alternative" means of watching this show before next summer, but I'll wait.

Clear eyes, full hearts,.....

[Superman07]

No, Riggins graduated. He's was going to that other college that Lyla tried give up the big university for and he wouldn't let her. I believe they left it at that at Billy's wedding?

I believe the only student left then is Julie.

[aktick]

I'm assuming Lance will be off to the Ivy Leagues or something?

[zekeburger1979]

Originally Posted by Superman07

No, Riggins graduated. He's was going to that other college that Lyla tried give up the big university for and he wouldn't let her. I believe they left it at that at Billy's wedding.

San Antonio State.

Originally Posted by aktick

I'm assuming Lance will be off to the Ivy Leagues or something?

I assume you're talking about Landry who is now a senior at East Dillon High and the player with the most experience on that team. Yikes!

[GizmoDVD]

Originally Posted by aktick

I'm assuming Lance will be off to the Ivy Leagues or something?

Did you gloss past the first post with his picture?

[Septemberbaby]

Originally Posted by rfduncan

As with last season, I will watch on the 101 and then re-watch it in HD on NBC when it re-airs.

I can't wait!!!

You do know that the 101 is in HD also, right?

[rfduncan]

Originally Posted by Septemberbaby

You do know that the 101 is in HD also, right?

Yes, but I refuse to pay for HD DirecTV until they support TiVo again.

[Chew]

Originally Posted by rfduncan

Yes, but I refuse to pay for HD DirecTV until they support TiVo again.

Last I heard, it was 1Q 2010.

[aktick]

Originally Posted by zekeburger1979

I assume you're talking about Landry who is now a senior at East Dillon High and the player with the most experience on that team. Yikes!

Landry, Lance, same thing. I always thought he and Saracen were the same age.

Originally Posted by GizmoDVD

Did you gloss past the first post with his picture?

No, I noticed him, but Saracen is also in the picture. I thought he graduated. Guess not.

[Michael Corvin]

Originally Posted by aktick

Landry, Lance, same thing. I always thought he and Saracen were the same age.

One would think, but I guess it's the same reason Riggins and Six grew up together but weren't the same age. Plot convenience.

[fujishig]

It's going to be an interesting season, with the new premise and pretty much turnover of most of the cast (last season they still had Smash and Street for multiple episodes, so the main characters from the initial seasons were pretty much intact). With Saracen, Tyra and Lyla now pretty much gone, I guess they had to keep Riggins.

Makes sense though, especially with the East Dillon thing, since there'd be all new players anyway.